Question For Parent Drivers

Hola. Question for parent truck drivers. I am about to sign up for cdl school and start a regional position afterwards with TMC, and this will be the very first time I will be away from home since being there for my 2 kids every day, that brings about my question of; should I get a cellphone for my oldest (8)? My other one is 7, but my oldest can share the phone with him when it comes down to facetime whenever I'm not driving and done for the day and/or calls whenever they're available of to do so, I just want to stay as connected as possible with them. Is this a good idea?

If you get an iPhone you can lock the App Store and delete safari so you can have some control over what they're doing on it

I don't think it's really necessary. A tablet or an old phone with wifi capabilities should suffice. You can download Google meet and it'll work fine. For phone conversations, you can use textnow.

If a phone will make you feel more comfortable, you can get a phone a used phone from Mercari or buy a new phone that's not a flagship phone.

If you do buy a phone, set up a separate email account for it that's used solely for that phone. You don't want kids accessing your contacts or emails. You also don't want to risk them losing the phone and somebody else having access to that stuff.

Good luck with school and TMC.

If you get an iPhone you can lock the App Store and delete safari so you can have some control over what they're doing on it

I'll definitely keep that one in mind. I'm an android user so I don't know much about apple devices.

I don't think it's really necessary. A tablet or an old phone with wifi capabilities should suffice. You can download Google meet and it'll work fine. For phone conversations, you can use textnow.

If a phone will make you feel more comfortable, you can get a phone a used phone from Mercari or buy a new phone that's not a flagship phone.

If you do buy a phone, set up a separate email account for it that's used solely for that phone. You don't want kids accessing your contacts or emails. You also don't want to risk them losing the phone and somebody else having access to that stuff.

Good luck with school and TMC.

True, I just wanted her to be able to communicate in the event she was out and about, or in any predicament without wifi. I was thinking opening a line with a free phone or something along those lines. I did want to know if overall it would be a good idea.

I think it is going to be very important for both you and the kiddos to stay in close touch. You got some good suggestions already. How best to do that, you will have to determine but kids those ages need the security of knowing mom is just a phone call away.

The other aspect is: what is the TMC driver phone usage policy? No doubt you can’t use a hand held device and the kids can’t be calling you every 5 minutes. So think the whole process through from start to finish.

Good luck to you on everything.

I think it is going to be very important for both you and the kiddos to stay in close touch. You got some good suggestions already. How best to do that, you will have to determine but kids those ages need the security of knowing mom is just a phone call away.

The other aspect is: what is the TMC driver phone usage policy? No doubt you can’t use a hand held device and the kids can’t be calling you every 5 minutes. So think the whole process through from start to finish.

Good luck to you on everything.

They've definitely been good suggestions. I'm not sure what their phone usage policy is, but of course I would only use it while I'm not driving or working on a load in general, It's mainly more for when I'm not on the road. I'll definitely put some thought behind it before doing so :)

I am an Android user and I have a OnePlus phone that I use with WhatsApp to video chat with my wife and daughter. She uses an iPhone and we have an Amazon Fire8 Kids tablet for our daughter.

You can get a decent Android phone for under $200. A OnePlus 7 Pro is a decent phone (one that I used back in 2021) that can be found in new condition on eBay or Mercari for under $200. Just be careful buying phones online to make sure that it's a legit seller with a device in the condition that you are expecting.

Gabby, you say you would only use the phone when not driving, and that’s a great intention but probably not realistic.The kiddos won’t know when you are driving or not. So I think some type of hands free headset would be necessary for you. Super common among drivers, you see these all the time at truck stops and customers.

Definitely discuss this issue with your company, trainers, fellow students so you can have a solid plan and hit the road running.

Who will be raising your children while you are on the road for weeks at a time?